New Forres nursery ready to welcome youngsters
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A NEW £2 million nursery in Forres has been officially handed over to Moray Council.
Built by Morrison Construction, the centre signals a significant investment in the area as part of the Scottish Government’s extension of funded Early Learning and Childcare (ELC).
Although the requirement to provide 1,140 hours of funded ELC for all three and four-year-olds, and eligible twos, has been postponed due to the Covid-19 crisis, the new Pilmuir Nursery allows for exactly that for its littlest learners.
Senior project manager for ELC expansion at Moray Council, Robin Paterson, said: "It’s exciting for us to have the new nursery ready for the start of term in August.
"We’ll have a number of children re-joining us who have seen the construction progressing over the last two years as well as our new intake.
"We look forward to them exploring the light, airy and spacious building that has been fantastically designed for a modern ELC offering.
"Incorporating the outdoor learning space makes this an even more exciting learning environment, and the staff team here will be ready with a warm welcome for the children to help them settle in to their new nursery."
Morrison Construction site manager Dawn Marshall said: "Often our local authority projects are schools, so it has been a very positive experience being involved in a new build for early years."
Pilmuir Nursery manager Bev Ashworth added: "Morrison Construction have been wonderful to work with and have helped us involve the children at each stage of the construction of the new nursery.
"After the Covid-19 lockdown experience, we’re very excited to be reopening in August with a brand new nursery."
The 1,140 hours equates to around 30 hours of funded ELC during term-time.
However, Pilmuir Nursery will operate year round, giving parents and carers more opportunities to work, train or study. The new building can accommodate up to 72 children and its outdoor space is creatively laid out for learning use.
The building is intended to be available for community use in evenings, but this has been put on hold until the Covid-19 threat has passed.
